Best paw forward: Humane society changes designed to promote adoption

Raquel, left and Robinson, right, relax in their community cat room Tuesday afternoon at the Rock County Humane Society. The new community rooms once held cages, but now have cats living amongst each other.

Areas that held stacks of individual cat cages have been transformed into “community rooms.” Each room has cat trees, shelves for the cats to sit and climb on and lots of places to curl up for naps.

Each community room has windows to the outside, and window ledges and shelves allow cats to take naps in the morning sun or keep their eyes on the outside world. Hurley said the humane society hopes to put up bird feeders outside the window—the feline version of cable television.

The cats like the new rooms, and so do visitors.

Executive Director Brett Frazier instituted the changes when he started in June.

“It's sort of selfish from our point of view,” Frazier said. “When people see the animals interact together and see how they get along, they're much more likely to take two animals rather than one.”

Perhaps more important, the enclosures allow people to interact with more than one animal at a time. The animals, too, are more relaxed because they're in a comfortable setting that gives them a chance to display their personalities.

Hank, a Maine coon mix, took advantage of his perch in a cat tree to reach out with his front paws like a child asking to be picked up. It was a hard move to resist, and a visitor suddenly found herself with an arm full of purring feline. Hank then tried to seal the deal by gently licking the hands that were petting him.

Robinson, an orange and white cat with funny ears, often sits in the window and meows at visitors.

“He really wants to go home with somebody,” Frazier said.

Cats stay in the humane society an average of 40 days, and the goal is to make their stays as pleasant as possible.

Changes are in store for the dog runs, too, Hurley said.

The entrance of the humane society still contains cats in cages. Some of those cats will be transitioned into the community rooms, while some will stay in individual cages. Not all cats are willing to share their space.

Other building changes include new light bulbs that give the society's main area a brighter, more natural look.

The air handling system has been updated so more fresh air gets into the building and the cat rooms.

Finally, the walls have gone from Gobi-desert brown to a light tropical green and purple.